Dog Ways

09/11/2025

🌟 Are you ready to take your scentwork to the next level? 🌟

We've got 2 spots left for 1.5hr bespoke scentwork sessions next Thursday 13th November at Bowley Scout Camp 🏕

Attendees can select to work on tracking skills, scent detection skills, or a mixture of both.

The venue offers a wide range of environments to practice in, including woodland, field and both internal/external building searches.

The spots available are:

1.15pm - 2.45pm: https://bookwhen.com/dogwayslancashire/e/ev-stmzr-20251113131500

2.50pm - 4.20pm: https://bookwhen.com/dogwayslancashire/e/ev-sti6m-20251113145000

We don't often have the opportunity to practice scent activities here, so this may be your only opportunity in 2025/2026 to enjoy a tailored scentwork session in a private venue.

Take the first steps on your Dog Ways journey... About Dog Ways

09/11/2025

Yesterday's Scent Detection teams did amazing work carrying out gun oil searches in the stables.

We worked on quality of indications and salience in searching, as well as giving the dogs opportunity to work through a TON of visual and scent distractions. Some finds were high, some were low, some buried and some inaccessible. The dogs' tails never stopped wagging, and the handlers really stepped up to the challenges they were set at the start of the session. We don't always delve into theory on every class, but when we do, it's well worth it! 💜

Well done to teams Burt, Boudie, Blaze, Betty and Sassie for all your fantastic work. Handlers, keep an eye on your WhatsApp/Messenger for videos later today.

08/11/2025

Today was the first day of our UK Sniffer Dogs Silver Tracking Series 1 workshop!

Teams Simba, Betty and Indie flexed their tracking muscles as we tackled new article indications and precision and accuracy on turns.

Lots of great stuff done, and we're really starting to see the different ways the dogs have of using their noses on the track - no two are the same!

Looking forward to part 2 of the workshop next week 😀

01/11/2025

Scentwork Saturdays are always the highlight of the week due to the fab nature of the activity and the enthusiasm of the dogs and their humans who routinely show up to do great things in all weathers... and today was even more fun because it's time for super 🎃 HOWLOWEEN themed classes! 👻 😀

During the afternoon's scent detection class, teams Tully, Boudie, Grace, Burt, Sassie and Caleb had the opportunity to work on three different odours during a variety of novel exercises.

First up, coffee, cake and a spooky-themed quiz! We issued a challenge to see whether the dogs would best the humans across twelve questions... and the dogs totally aced it 😉

Next we had a pumpkin patch search, giving the dogs the opportunity to pick out the correct pumpkins. Hiding scent in something edible (and sometimes delicious!) is a fun way to increase the difficulty of the find, and other than a misplaced retrieve or two, the dogs tackled the exercise very well and with much enthusiasm! 😁

Finally we ended with a capture the flag game, asking the dogs to retrieve an item/texture that they wouldn't normally be asked to work with. We weren't sure how well the plastic flags would hold the catnip scent, but every single dog within the space of a minute had identified the correct flag and showed zero interest in any of the others, once again proving just how incredible their noses are 💜

Once again, the dogs went home with some pumpkin-filled treats and some mini pumpkins to chomp on/play with, and we stuffed the humans full of cake and sweets. Thank you to Burt and parents for sharing your birthday cakes with us, and happy one year birthday for tomorrow 🐕🙂

Lots of fun and laughs shared, and as always it was a delight to see the dogs enjoying themselves doing scentwork!

01/11/2025

Scentwork Saturdays are always the highlight of the week due to the fab nature of the activity and the enthusiasm of the dogs and their humans who routinely show up to do great things in all weathers... and today was even more fun because it's time for super 🎃 HOWLOWEEN themed classes! 👻 😀

First up was the morning's Tracking class, where teams Simba, Betty and Indie hunted down a werewolf to recover a stolen Halloween stash. The handlers did not even bat an eye at being asked to doff their shoes and pull on some monster feet slippers and go wading out to one of the tracking fields in ankle-deep mud. Brave souls always up for a laugh! 😬

After they found the stash, the track continued with a little work on indications and non-linear tracking as they hunted for the werewolf throughout the lunar cycle 🌙

The dogs were amazing despite the sporadic weather, with Simba and Betty in particular being super accurate even working against a wind 🌬 that was quite strong at times.

The dogs went home with some pumpkin-filled treats, and the humans enjoyed plenty of cake, sweets and hot drinks. An excellent morning!

29/10/2025

Tuesday trailing teams Pixie, Bella, Homer, Caleb and Winnie had some dodgy weather to contend with last night, but they all aced their road crossings and walking finds during the evening's session. It was the first time attempting walking finds for both Pixie and Winnie, and they had no problem understanding the concept of a moving trail layer 🤩

26/10/2025

Yesterday's tracking class saw teams Lando, Burt and Louie working in a new field with some interesting terrain to track over. The dogs did an amazing job, and we came up with some individual progression goals for each team.

To top it off, Louie achieved his UK Sniffer Dogs Bronze Series 2, and completed his first non-food tracks. Amazing stuff! 🤩

26/10/2025

Yesterday was a little chilly, but at least we avoided the rain!

Scent Detection dogs Boudie, Blaze, Tully, Sassie, Burt and Betty did a mixture of indoor and outdoor searches. We focused on the challenge of inaccessible hides, including high hides and buried hides, looking at how the dogs navigate scent cones to locate the source odour.

Everyone worked their socks off in both environments, with outdoor searching made trickier by the rising wind. Buried finds (like inaccessible hides in general) aren't something we do often, and it was fascinating to observe the dogs as they figured out the unique scent picture.

Well done everyone! 🙂

25/10/2025

We're a few days on from Tuesday, but the weather has been so wet that the business phone has been on strike these past few days 🤣

Now that it's dried out, here are a few pics from the Tuesday evening mantrailing group, where we worked on some individual goals for Kali, Winnie, Homer, Millie and Bella, and gorgeous spaniel pup Mabel came for her introduction and did a fantastic job at picking up the basics 💜

Great to see all the dogs enjoying themselves!

22/10/2025

In a rare moment of stillness that almost never happens in Darwen, Archie takes the opportunity to inspect the clouds.

He says they're all fine, and not to worry - he'll put them back in the sky once he's finished checking them 😀

21/10/2025

⭐ Exciting 1:1 Scentwork Opportunity ⭐

On Thursday 13th November, we have the opportunity to run Scent Detection and Tracking 1:1 classes at Bowley Scout Camp, to give you and your dog the chance to work in a fantastic variety of different environments to search.

Five 1:1 slots are available for booking, and each slot lasts for 1.5 hours.

🐕 Those opting for Detection can work on Kong, Gun Oil, Clove or Catnip, and can make use of both fields and woodlands to refine their searching skills.

🐾 For those who'd prefer tracking, we can accommodate a number of tracks in the woods, across fields and include hard/soft terrain transitions for those who'd really like to challenge their dogs' skills.

If you've never done formal scentwork or tracking before, this would be a great opportunity to come along and work your dog in a quiet, private setting with minimal distractions.

Refreshments will be available inside the Den after each session. ☕

If you have multiple dogs to work, or would like to make use of the venue for longer, you may book multiple slots, but please be aware that places are extremely limited.

For booking, please visit 👉https://bookwhen.com/dogwayslancashire/?start=2025-11-13T00%3A00%3A00.000%2B00%3A00 =ev-soan-20250101000000

Pictured: Tracking and Trailing dog Laiho, enjoying a moment of stillness on the track 🧡

19/10/2025

A huge congratulations to Alfie, who yesterday passed his UK Sniffer Dogs Bronze Series 2 Tracking, and absolutely nailed it with style and focus. We not only managed to complete all the standard tracks with precision turns accomplished, but also had the opportunity to end the session by heading into the Neighground for some non-linear tracking using the varying heights and terrains of the land to really test his skills. Totally aced it all!

During the afternoon's scent class, teams Burt and Blaze transitioned to searching for gun oil, while Callie and Ella started searching for Kong. Tully worked on a mixture of catnip and gun oil, in preparation for his upcoming trial. Good luck, Tully! Lovely work from everyone today - it's not easy to get long periods of focus in such a distracting environment, but everyone did amazing work 💜